Kootenai County-raised leaders take state

Kootenai County isn’t just educating students. It’s raising leaders.

The Coeur d'Alene High School and Timberlake High School student councils both received the Outstanding Student Council Award for Region 1, 2021-2022, from the Idaho Association of Student Councils at the annual conference in Boise early last week.

CHS student council also received the Etiquette Award for 2021.

“For them to be recognized down in Boise is exciting,” said CHS student council adviser Tara Nelson. “To be recognized at the state level for their organization and professionalism, and really making this an organization that people look to for leadership and guidance is pretty awesome.”

Timberlake student council adviser Anthony Kraack said the award goes to student councils that can showcase what they do for their schools and communities.

“It’s kind of a big deal where you have to prove quite a bit that you do community work and you do service work, and you try to change the culture of the school,” Kraack said. “So for us, it’s a huge celebration.”

Students were able to travel to the conference, where they listened to speakers as well as had the opportunity to lead breakout sessions.

CHS students led a session on their All With Love campaign, a charity campaign started last year when the annual CHS-Lake City High spirit game had to be canceled because of COVID-19.

CHS junior class president Nate Eullock said students chose to talk about their campaign since it was original, and gave other schools advice on how to start their own campaigns.

The CHS students also led a session on modernizing student councils for the 21st century.

“It was really fun teaching them, but also just getting to go see ideas other schools had and be able to bring that back here,” said CHS Associated Student Body secretary and junior, Gracie Shawver.

Shawver was also elected president for Region 1 and 2 for the Idaho Association of Student Councils.

Timberlake ASB president Tanner Menti has been a part of student council since he started high school, and saw the council through the last four years of their 13-year outstanding council award run.

Menti said this year he helped teach a breakout session on how to get a student council to the outstanding level.

Originally, Menti said he didn’t think too much of the award because his school received it every year, but he said through the presentation, he learned how much effort was needed to win.

“It made me kind of proud that our school wins this every year with most of the points,” Menti said. “It felt really cool.”

Elie Morrisroe, CHS ASB vice president, said the best part of the conference was being around schools from all over the state.

“They all still have insane levels of spirit, and just feeding off each other’s energy and being around people who are passionate about student council and changing your school,” Morrisroe said.

Andi Jane Howard, CHS sophomore class president, said she enjoyed collaboration through being a part of student council.

“We just met a ton of really cool people from all over the state over the weekend, people we wouldn’t have known if we weren’t in student council,” Howard said. “I think that’s part of the opportunity.”

For the young leaders, being a part of student council also means a lot of meetings and hard work.

At CHS, the student council meets three times a week, Wednesdays through Fridays. ASB officers meet Mondays, and ASB officers and class presidents and vice presidents meet Tuesdays.

Timberlake student council meets for an hour five days a week.

Meetings include planning out events, creating posters, planning fundraisers and more.

Menti said he thinks one of the main attributes he learned was how to show confidence and inspire it in others.

“Another thing is hard work because you can’t get through this class without hard work,” Menti said. “It’s a very important attribute.”

Timberlake senior class president Sami Wilfong said she appreciates all the communication skills she gained through the class.

“I learned how to interact with the whole school,” Wilfong said. “It’s a lot of communication skills that are in this class because you can’t get anything done without that.”

Myah Rietz, CHS ASB president, said there are many leadership qualities that can be learned through being a part of student council.

“I definitely think, especially in my role this year as president, that’s going to help me later in life,” Rietz said. “I’m learning how to speak and lead and delegate, and just be a good role model through my actions.”